NDP calls for national strategy for eating disorders

Anorexia and bulimia wreak havoc among youth and too little is done in Ottawa to raise public and media awareness. That is why New Democrat MP Laurin Liu will table a motion in the House of Commons calling for a national strategy for eating disorders.

More than a million people suffer from eating disorders in Canada. Many organizations working in the field have highlighted the effect of unrealistic media images on body dissatisfaction.

“It’s time to put an end to this emphasis on extreme thinness,” said Liu. “Every day we are bombarded with excessively modified images promoting unrealistic beauty ideals that are impossible to obtain without adopting unhealthy eating habits. This must stop.”

There are many challenges to accessing treatment for individuals with eating disorders. These barriers include health care providers with inadequate training in the field of eating disorders; lack of treatment programs; inappropriate treatment programs; lengthy wait times; and insufficient research into potential treatments.

An online campaign calling for more diversity of beauty standards in the media has been launched in partnership with ÉquiLibre and Anorexie et Boulimie Québec (ANEB), organizations that work on the prevention of problems related to body image and the treatment of anorexia and bulimia, respectively.

Campaign website: www.berealCanada.ca / www.soyonsrealistes.ca